Three more Yankees homers not enough as bullpen torpedoes lead late in loss to Diamondbacks

The Yankees aren’t going to torpedo their way through the season. 

They learned that Tuesday night in The Bronx, blowing a late lead to the Diamondbacks in a 7-5 loss, their first defeat of the year following a sweep of the Brewers to open 2025. 

The Yankees still managed three homers, but that wasn’t enough to overcome a poor performance from the bullpen in a fateful five-run eighth inning, as Mark Leiter Jr. allowed a grand slam to Eugenio Suárez to give Arizona the lead for good. 

Up two runs heading into the inning, left-hander Tim Hill struggled before giving way to Leiter, who walked a pair and then gave up the blast to Suárez. 

“He put a good swing on it and unfortunately, it got out,’’ Leiter said. “We had a chance to win that game. I’ve got to make better pitches.” 

Yankees pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. (56) is pulled after a grand slam by Arizona Diamondbacks’ Eugenio Suárez in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Bronx, NY.

New York Yankees pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. (56) is pulled by manager Aaron Boone after a grand slam.

It came down to that in large part because the Yankee lineup, which had a record-setting opening series against the Brewers, didn’t muster much but long at-bats against Arizona. 

The three homers were all solo shots — one from Jasson Domínguez, another from Anthony Volpe and a ninth-inning shot by Ben Rice — to give them an MLB record 18 homers through four games, but the Yankees went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and the top four hitters in the lineup went 0-for-15 with a walk and nine strikeouts. 

They managed to have the lead in the eighth thanks to an error by Josh Naylor at first base in the fourth inning that scored two runs. 

Eugenio Suárez (28) hits a grand slam home run in the eighth inning in the Yankees’ loss to the Diamondbacks.

Anthony Volpe belts a home run during the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 7-5 loss to the Diamondbacks on April 1, 2025.

Will Warren, in his first start of the season, mostly pitched around four walks over his five innings — hurt only by a two-run shot by Corbin Carroll.

It was the only hit given up by the right-hander. 

Fernando Cruz tossed two scoreless innings, striking out four, before the pen started leaking. 

Hill started the trouble by allowing a laser double to pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk, who scored on a Geraldo Perdomo single down the right-field line to make it a one-run game. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. walks back to the dugout after striking out.

Hill got Carroll on a comebacker before Leiter came in and walked the first two batters he faced to bring up Naylor, a Yankees nemesis from his days with Cleveland. 

With the bases loaded, Leiter struck out Naylor for the second out. 

But Leiter and the Yankees paid for a 2-2 splitter that he didn’t bury, and Suárez turned on it for his fifth homer in five games. 

The Yankee offense made new Arizona ace Corbin Burnes work, as he threw 98 pitches while getting just one out into the fifth inning. 

They weren’t able to solve Arizona’s pen, though, as four relievers shut the Yankees down for 4 ²/₃ innings until Rice’s solo shot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. 

Carroll’s two-run blast put Arizona up in the third before Domínguez led off the bottom of the inning with a shot to right-center. 

Ben Rice homers in the ninth inning for the Yankees.

Rice then slammed a double to the gap and Oswaldo Cabrera walked before Burnes recovered to retire the top of the lineup again. 

Volpe, using a torpedo bat, tied the game with one out in the bottom of the fourth with his third homer of the season, a 418-foot shot into the visiting bullpen in left-center. 

With runners on second and third and two out later in the inning, Cabrera grounded to first, where Naylor flipped high to Burnes. 

The ball sailed over Burnes, and Austin Wells and Domínguez both scored to make it 4-2. 

Yankees’ Aaron Judge strikes out in the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Bronx, NY.

Warren pitched out of trouble in his final inning. 

With Jake McCarthy on second, following a leadoff walk, and two outs, the Yankees opted to keep Warren in the game to face Carroll one more time. 

After a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Warren responded by striking out Carroll to preserve the two-run lead. 

Jasson Domínguez (24) celebrates after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning of the Yankees’ loss to the Diamondbacks.

Cruz entered and dominated, but the rest of the pen couldn’t close the deal.